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Hollywood actor and humanitarian Angelina Jolie visited the Egyptian side of Gaza’s Rafah border crossing on Friday, where she met Red Crescent volunteers and spoke with truck drivers waiting to deliver humanitarian aid, AFP journalists reported.
Jolie arrived with an American delegation and was welcomed by both former and current Egyptian officials.
During the visit, she said she felt “honoured” to meet aid workers operating at the crossing, which remains a key gateway for humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
One Red Crescent volunteer told the Oscar-winning actor that thousands of aid trucks were currently stalled at the border, awaiting permission to cross.
The comment highlighted the severe bottleneck facing relief efforts as conditions inside Gaza continue to deteriorate.
Local media reported that Jolie visited to assess the situation of wounded Palestinians who have been transferred into Egypt for medical treatment, as well as to observe the challenges surrounding the delivery of humanitarian supplies into the besieged territory.
Neither Jolie nor Egyptian authorities have issued an official statement confirming the purpose or outcomes of the visit.
The Rafah crossing had been expected to reopen under the ceasefire that came into effect in Gaza in October, but it has so far remained shut. Access through the crossing has been a major point of contention amid the ongoing Israeli destruction.
On Friday, Egypt joined six other countries, including Saudi Arabia, in a joint statement calling on the international community to pressure Israel to immediately ease restrictions on the entry and distribution of essential aid into Gaza.
Israel announced in early December that the Rafah crossing would be opened solely for people wishing to leave Gaza, a move that Egypt quickly rejected, saying it had not agreed to such an arrangement.
Jolie, who served for more than two decades as a special envoy for the UN refugee agency, stepped down from the role at the end of 2022, explaining that she wanted to focus on a wider range of humanitarian causes beyond her work with the United Nations.
